The Hindu : Sport : All set for an absorbing Ranji final

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All set for an absorbing Ranji final

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Uttar Pradesh all geared up to challenge the might of Mumbai

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

PICTURE OF CONFIDENCE: Uttar Pradesh, led by Mohd. Kaif, is ready to pose a big challenge to Mumbai in the final of the Ranji Trophy.

HYDERABAD: It’s time for emotions to be set aside.

Uttar Pradesh’s semifinal batting hero Shivakant Shukla may struggle to overcome his awe when he encounters his role model Sachin Tendulkar for the first time on the field. Likewise rookie fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with 25 wickets, is equally excited about bowling to the great batsman from Mumbai.

The Ranji Trophy championship final is certainly not the stage for cricketers like Shukla to even momentarily forget their designated roles in what is likely to be an absorbing, five-day encounter commencing at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (Uppal) here on Monday.

Twenty-two-year-old Shukla, who played an 821-minute unbeaten knock of 178 against Tamil Nadu which catapulted his team into the final from a seemingly difficult position, is optimistic of a repeat performance for his team’s cause.

“I will cherish every moment of this final forever. But, I am conscious of my responsibility at the same time," he pointed out. His approach reflects the spirit of Uttar Pradesh, for which this will be the third final in four years.

Lots of excitement

This season’s final has generated a lot of excitement with big guns like Sachin Tendulkar, leading scorers Wasim Jaffer (1174) and Ajinkya Rahane (1061), Sahil Kukreja and Rohit Sharma lined up on one side and the big five of U.P. cricket — captain Mohd. Kaif, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar and R.P. Singh on the other.

In bowling, Mumbai is spearheaded by Test star Zaheer Khan and the seasoned Ajit Agarkar while the highly impressive Dhawal Kulkarni (37 wickets) is keen to make a big impact in the final. The off-spin of Ramesh Powar (31 wickets) has always been handy, but more so this season, for his outfit.

U.P.’s batting this season has revolved around the form of Tanmay Srivastava (654 runs), Kaif (424), Shivakant Shukla (422) and Parvinder Singh (442).

In bowling, the 18-year-old Bhuvneshwar has been the surprise package followed by leggie Piyush Chawla (23). Interestingly, the team is without any support staff.

All eyes on Muzumdar

One of the highlights of the final could be Amol Muzumdar’s performance. He needs 31 runs more to beat Amarjeet Kaypee’s record of 7623 and become the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy. “It should be a great achievement but I will reserve all my comments till I cross that landmark,” was his reaction.

But, if the body language is any indication, the Kaif-led team is ready for the big challenge to win the title for the second time. However the team is not naive to ignore the imposing record of Mumbai, which is going into the 75th championship final with 37 triumphs and two runner-up spots under its belt.

With BCCI curators chairman Daljit Singh monitoring the pitch preparations undertaken by HCA curator Y.L. Chandrasekhar, enough hints have been provided to indicate the pitch should be a sporting one if it retained the impression it gave on Sunday.

The teams (from):

Mumbai: Wasim Jaffer (capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Vinayak Samant (wk), Zaheer Khan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ajit Agarkar, Amol Muzumdar, Rohit Sharma, Sairaj Bahutule, Dhaval Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Ramesh Powar, Sahil Kukreja and Amit Chavan, Usman Malvi. Coach: Pravin Amre.

Uttar Pradesh: Mohd. Kaif (capt.), Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Tanmay Srivastava, Praveen Kumar, R.P. Singh, Shivakant Shukla, Parvinder Singh, Mohd. Amir Khan (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Gupta, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Ravikant Shukla, Tahir Abbas, Ashish Yadav and Sudeep Tyagi. Coach: Gyanendra Pandey. Manager: A.W. Zaidi.

Umpires: Messrs. Amish M. Saheba & Shahvir Tarapore. Match referee: D. Vasu.

Corrections and Clarifications

A sentence in the penultimate paragraph of a report "All set for an absorbing Ranji final" ("Sport", January 12, 2009) said Mumbai was going into the 75th championship final with 37 triumphs and two runner-up spots. Mumbai finished runners-up four times - in 1947-48 to Holkar, in 1979-80 to Delhi, in 1982-83 to Karnataka and in 1990-91 to Haryana.

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